Abstract
Checkmate to deliberate practice: the case of Magnus Carlsen.
Highlights
The role of practice in the acquisition of expertise has been a key research question at least since Bryan and Harter’s (1899) study on expertise in Morse telegraphy, which proposed that it takes 10 years to become an expert
This framework has been criticized in academic circles; for example, in retrospective studies, the amount of deliberate practice accounts for only about one third of the variance in expertise in music and in chess (Hambrick et al, 2014)
A spectacular example is provided by chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen (Norway), who became world champion in classic chess in November 2013 by beating Viswanathan Anand (India) and who became world champion in rapid chess (15 min + 10 s additional time per move) and speed chess (3 min + 2 s additional time per move) in June 2014
Summary
The role of practice in the acquisition of expertise has been a key research question at least since Bryan and Harter’s (1899) study on expertise in Morse telegraphy, which proposed that it takes 10 years to become an expert. Starting age is a good approximation of when players started practicing seriously (i.e., using some form of deliberate practice), as most of these players obtained outstanding results in youth competitions a few years after starting playing chess, and obtained the grandmaster title rapidly.
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